In A Different Timeline
by Breadhead1212
Summary: In a different timeline where Ruby Rose isn't the hero, in a world where another must step up to defend the world from the darkness of the Grimm. Aurum Caleo is the one who must take on the title of hero, fulfilling his destiny as Defender of Remnant, but he is hiding a dark power. When the time comes can he control his dark power or will he crumble under the power of the darkness?
1. Prelude: Part 1

Author's Note: Although I'm sure you've heard this before from other authors on this site, this is my first fanfiction and this story is my test run. So, please forgive any mistakes made until I have a better grasp of this site from an author's perspective.

 _ **17 years prior to the start of the story:**_

If you had asked anyone on that night they would have said that it was a ominous night, consisting of chilling winds and the darkest skies.

* * *

A laboratory, somewhere in Mistral, sitting on a open grass field, guarded by an army of soldiers ready to gun down any intruders.

A dark room, lit by one lonely candle sitting in a far off corner of the room.

A man, dressed in black and hands folded, sitting in the center of the room at a desk

* * *

Boots clicked on the ground, as an approaching soldier walked toward his boss's office with a status report.

A knock on the door, "Sir, I have the status report you requested."

* * *

A soft voice echoed through the dark room and out into the hall, "Come in."

The soldier entered, the door giving a slight squeak as it was pushed open.

* * *

"Sir, we have identified a potential subject for Project Alpha."

* * *

"Have you now?"

* * *

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"You have better have got the right one this time, or heads will start rolling" said the man, gazing intently at the soldier.

* * *

The soldier gulped and nodded "Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Very well, retrieve the subject within 3 days."

* * *

Once again the soldier nodded "Yes, sir!"

* * *

 _ **1 day after status report:**_

"Agent 4975 reporting for duty, sir!" announced the soon-to-be-assassin as he entered the assignment room. Wasting no time with formalities the cloaked man quickly handed the agent a file, containing all the needed information on the target. When the man saw his target his mouth morphed into a grin and he asked "A baby? That's all?"

* * *

"No, that's not all. Your mission is to retrieve the baby no matter what."

* * *

"And the parents?"

* * *

"Try to make it seem like an accident if you must kill them."

* * *

The agent nodded " Yes, sir!"

* * *

 _ **2 hours after the assassin** **receives** **his mission:**_

The assassin got up from his bench as the airship neared it's landing position because , #1-He hadn't wanted to pay for a cross-continental flight, so he had snuck onto the plane and #2 He really needed to use the restroom. Casually getting up to use the restroom he strolled to the back of the plane, and when he was done using the ship's faculties, he snuck out of the plane through a window and waited for the plane to drift closer to the ground. At about 15 feet in the air he jumped to the ground and rolled into a crouch. Getting up only seconds after he had landed, he looked around for any guards and upon seeing none stuck his hands in his pockets and walked out into the city of Vale with his hands in his pockets.

* * *

The target's house was near the edge of the city and was protected by a group of elite ex-soldiers that had been hired to protect one of Vale's ruling council from any and all threats. However, there the agent was a rouge Huntsman and not only that but was one that had been quite proficient at his old job. The mission report had noted that there was a gap of fifteen seconds during the changing of the guard and Agent 4975 planned to use that to his full advantage.

* * *

The change of the guard had happened faster than expected and an alarm had been raised immediately when the figure in a black outfit was spotted near the front door of the house. The one thing the guards were not anticipating however was for the intruder to turn around and stopped moving, as if to say "See, I have nothing to fear from you.". The captain of the guard felt a flash of fear, a feeling he had not felt for a long time, not since his very first battle.

* * *

He yelled "Open Fire!" as the last of the guard arrived at the scene. The guards with guns let loose a hail of bullets in the direction of the intruder. Somehow, without seeming to move the man dodged all the bullets simultaneously. He felt another pang of fear as the man drew twin blades from behind his cloak, they were Hunter weapons without a doubt. Of a sleek design the twin katana seemed to embrace the idea of a blade that was as fierce and frightening as a wolf and as elegant and majestic as a dragon. The intruder extended his arms forward in a relaxed grip and leaned back into a fighting stance. The captain yelled "Loose Fire!" allowing the guards to go trigger-happy. The muzzles of the guns flashed as a stream of bullets erupted from each one creating a wall that was one could only hope of escaping with a Speed Semblance. The intruder tensed and launched himself forward, his blades flashing in front of him cutting through every bullet that was coming his way. More fear, a Reflex Semblance, more and more bad omens. The captain looked up from his thoughts just in time to see the man's blade flick up and to see the shell of a bullet fall tho the ground with a light "Clink."

* * *

The man's voice seemed to echo through the open field in front of the manor, "These are my blades, the Sanguine Aurora, with them I have cut down massive armies and much more skilled fighters than any of you could hope to be, Surrender!" Silence was the response that he received, "No?, don't believe me? Send your most skilled fighter to me in one on one combat!", "If you win, I shall surrender without hesitation. However, if I win the child of the councilor is mine."

* * *

Stunned the guards discussed among themselves, "The councilor's child?, what could he possibly want with him?" Before anyone could respond to his challenge, the front door creaked open and the councilman, who was quite the Huntsman and had had himself many impressive victories.

* * *

The councilman yelled "I accept your challenge, you of the Sanguine Aurora, you of the Bloody Dawn!"

* * *

"Very well councilman, prepare to fight!" the intruder replied raising his dual blades and settling into a combat stance. The councilman drew his weapon from behind his back, a bow gilded with gold lining extending out into two sharp sword blades.

* * *

He raised the bow into the air "This is my Vesperum Cadere, the Evening Fall, with it I shall end you." He raised his bow and drew back the string to his ear, the bow shimmered and a arrow darker than the blackness of the void appeared. Without warning, he shot it straight at the intruder , the man's blade flashed through the air again as the arrow neared. Boom!, the arrow exploded in front of the intruder as his blade connected and launched him backwards his feet kicking up dust in the ground. The air shimmered around him once again and more arrows formed in the air. They shot straight back down toward the intruder, his head shot up as he instinctively rolled out of the way of the arrows, as all of them spiked the ground where he had been an instant ago. He jumped up from the floor and kinking off the floor shot towards the archer, his blades held out in position for a overhead strike. The councilman tensed and brought his bow up just in time to catch the dual blades that were lashing down at him. This time the intruder pushed the intruder whipping out with his blades in a flurry of strikes. The archer leaped back and in the momentary pause of offense loosed an arrow straight into his opponent's chest from point blank range. The intruder let loose a scream of pain and rage and lashed out in a spinning whirlwind with his blades, the archer frantically defending himself, deflecting and parrying strikes as need be. However, small injuries began to appear on his body as small portions of strikes made it past his guard, slowly draining his aura. He blocked a heavy strike with the bladed edge of the bow causing him to be thrown off balance. The intruder took full advantage of the gap in defense and landing two blows with Bloody Dawn leaving the archer with two large gashes in his chest, his enemy pressed harder slamming his foot out into the archer's injuries. The councilman flew backwards as his body skipped across the grass like a stone along a lake.

* * *

The councilman stood shakily after he was kicked by the intruder, his wounds slowly faded away as his Aura drained away to heal his nearly fatal wound. His wound gone, he straightened up and squared his shoulders as he prepared to fight again. Suddenly, he froze and collapsed onto the floor face down his bow slipping out of his hand onto the grassy floor. The intruder stood still, apparently adhering to a sort of code of honor and waited for the archer to rise from the ground and prolong the fight. When he didn't the intruder walked over to the councilman and checked his pulse, he spoke and said just loudly enough for the soldiers to hear "You were a worthy opponent, I shall remember our battle." In a flash the intruder plunged one of his blades into the councilman's chest ending the archer's life.

* * *

The soldiers shook themselves out of their stupor as the intruder approached them once again with his blades drawn. The captain yelled "Charge! Avenge the councilman!" The soldiers ran at the killer shouting war cries and swearing vengeance on the killer. Three men ran in front of the crowd of soldiers, one of them squeezed the trigger of his gun 3 times and bullets poured out. The other two drew blades from the sheaths on their sides, and lunged at the intruder. Parrying one blade he spun into a slash which cut the throat of one of the soldiers, and quickly beheaded the other. More soldiers reached him, and one by one, all with a single strike, they were cut down like they had never used a blade. Slowly, as the soldiers all died off the captain realized that he would have to fight the intruder himself, but there was no chance of victory. He solemnly walked forward as the last soldier fell at the hands of the intruder. He drew his blade and waited for his enemy to make the first move.

* * *

The killer turned toward the captain and smiled a sadistic smile "I wonder how long you'll last?" he said. The captain didn't respond and waited for his enemy's first strike, "A quiet fighter then?" said the intruder. He lashed out with one sword and the captain knocked it away immediately resuming his guard position. "Oh, you blocked one! That's already more than all your men! How many more can you survive?" This time the intruder swung with both blades, this time in an overhead strike and slammed his swords into the captain's overhead guard. "Two, now!" Another sadistic grin appeared on his face, and he lashed out again. The captain jumped out of the way and launched his own attack. "Ohhh! Feisty! That's three now!" Another strike and another parry by the captain, the intruder lashed out again and again. "Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven!" The captain of the guard frantically parried blow after blow, before having to roll out of the way of a particularly heavy blow. "Eight!" He began laughing, it was a crazed one, that laugh, the laugh of a battle-crazed madman. He lunged forward blades held out in front of him, and the captain leaped back into the air, a fatal mistake. The agent saw an opportunity and threw his blade and the captain, it flew true and when the intruder picked up his blade again the blade was soaked in blood. The intruder wiped his blade on the grass turning it red, and said "Well, that was fun, wasn't it captain? I'm afraid I have to go now. Bye!"

* * *

He walked into the house and began looking for the baby, walking up the stairs and choosing one at random he opened it. He say a crib in the corner of the room and exclaimed "Ah, there you are!" Grabbing the baby out of the crib, he carried it out of the house and into the city of Vale just as he began hearing sirens. After buying a ticket from the kiosk he waited for the airship to arrive.

* * *

 _ **After the airship returns in Mistral:**_

When he got to the laboratory he walked into his boss's office and placed the baby on the man's desk. "Here's your baby as you requested" he said.

* * *

"Did you have to kill them all?" the cloaked man asked.

* * *

'They got in my way, that's all, sir." replied the agent.

* * *

"Fine, take it to the lab." said the man at the desk.

* * *

The agent sighed "Fine."

* * *

 _ **At the laboratory:**_

As the agent placed the baby on the table as instructed by the scientist, he began to cry sensing something was wrong. Flames appeared around the baby, whipping up in intensity. the scientist yelled over the flames "Get the syringe, inject it into him quickly!"

* * *

The flames grew in size and intensity as the agent rushed toward the syringe on the surgery table and snatched the syringe off it. It contained a dark solution of liquidated black dust, it seemed to be devouring itself over and over like the void. The agent rushed over the baby on the table and stuck the needle into the arm injecting all the balk dust into the child's arm. The child let out a scream of what could only be described as a primal scream of pain as the flames emanating from the child turned blackish-purple and curled into themselves disappearing into thin air.

* * *

The agent fell to his knees on the floor and gasped in the fresh air "What the fuck was THAT?!"

* * *

The scientist replied "THAT was the child's first semblance. The ability to control flames."

* * *

"Wait, FIRST?!, what's the second?"

* * *

"The power to absorb and copy semblances from others is the second. That's what made him eligible for Project Alpha."

* * *

The agent's jaw dropped open in shock "I think I need a raise for bringing him in then."

* * *

"Shut your mouth." the scientist said "We still need to bind his second semblance so he doesn't take all of our semblances."

* * *

"Bind?"

* * *

"Second semblances come from an influx of aura, that's why we can bind the extra semblance but not the main one."

* * *

"How are we gonna do this then?"

* * *

"Infuse him with Grimm essence, so the Grimm's soulless void, will counteract his influx of soul."

* * *

"Is that even possible? Without killing him I mean." The scientist nodded in confirmation and began mixing a chunk of Grimm armor with a large amount of each elemental dust. He crushed the chunk of Grimm armor into dust and mixed it into the other mixture of elemental dust, the mixture puffing up in a cloud of dust. We need to feed it to him now.

* * *

"Stop!" yelled the cloaked man as he burst into the room "What the hell are you doing?"

* * *

"Binding his second semblance, sir." both men said in unison.

* * *

"After all the corrupted dust you just injected into his system?" their boss snorted in derision "Do you want to kill him you idiots?"

* * *

"No, sorry sir." they mumbled.

* * *

"Clean up and put the kid to sleep." ordered their cloaked superior

* * *

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

P.S: After the next chapter is over, the story will begin to make more sense chronologically and begin to tie in with the main RWBY story, Also, for those who haven't realized yet this story will feature an OP main character. If anyone would be so kind as to leave a review, and they have an idea that they would like for me to incorporate in later chapters I will gladly see if it is possible to include in this story line. Furthermore, if anyone would like to request a ship for the story I will see if it would work for the future chapters. Thanks for reading! Please leave any reviews in a respectful fashion, constructive criticism is appreciated.

 _Introduced Weapons Are Listed Below:_

Vesperum Cadere- Evening Fall: Councilman's weapon; father of main character

Sanguis Aurora- Bloody Dawn: Agent 4975's weapon


	2. Prelude: Part 2

Author's Note: Hello again, thanks for reading the first chapter of A Darker Timeline, this chapter is going to focus on character development for our main character Aurum Caleo. For the purpose of the story not all things will be strictly from the RWBY official canon, for example a different way to use Aura other than stated in the canon. Once again, if you would be so kind as to leave a review so as to give me some idea of what you would want in the way of relationships and further powers, thank you. Now for the story!

* * *

 _ **Six years after the corruption of Aurum's power:**_

"Sir, we are beginning to make progress with the subject." reported the soldier.

* * *

"No, you are not. You are coddling the child, raising him as though he were your child."

* * *

"Sir?"

* * *

"The goal of Project Alpha is to make a super solider capable of accomplishing any feat without breaking so much as a sweat."

* * *

"Yes sir, I understand sir!"

* * *

"See, that you do."

* * *

 _ **After** **repurposing**_ _ **of Project Alpha:**_

Aurum's back was slammed into the cold hard granite of the training arena by Agent 4975 and he cried out anguish. He knew what was going on in this facility, he was to be mentally broken and reconstructed as a super soldier. The scary part was that it was working, slowly he had noticed that he had stopped caring about anything but his lessons in combat and espionage. All other things were slowly being taken away, gone already were the history lessons as shortened were his sleeping allotments.

* * *

"Is that all you have, little boy?" sneered the agent, his instructor in combat. "One little injury and you're out for the count already?" Aurum just lay there gasping in pain as his bones slowly mended under his skin. When he was fully healed he shakily steadied himself and rose to his feet, he choked as the agent slammed his hand into Aurum's throat abruptly cutting off his air supply. He stumbled back in pain and landed heavily on his tailbone adding another injury to his list of already numerous wounds. There were blade wounds, whip wounds, even some gunshot wounds. Each injury had been inflicted upon him in the man in front of him, the agent sometimes even going as far as torture, laughing his head off the entire time. Again he was slammed into the wall, over and over again he felt the dull impact of the force of the slam, his body already so familiar with all types of pain that he no longer felt any, just a flat acknowledgement of an injury.

* * *

All of the sudden, he realized something, that in hindsight was fairly obvious,. It was the realization that this "man" in front of him was the cause of all his pain. Aurum was a very smart child, able to comprehend things that many adults five times his age wouldn't know. So, the agent should have realized that Aurum knew exactly who had killed his father and by extension his mother. One time while sneaking around at night two years ago, he heard words floating along the empty hallway echoing with every repetition, words he could never forget.

* * *

"The boy's father was confirmed dead by Agent 4975 at due to a fatal stabbing through the heart, the boy' mother was treated for shock by local doctors when she returned home from her workplace, She saw the captain of the lying dead on the grass with a gaping wound in his chest, she saw the guard themselves dissected by an unknown force, she saw her husband, the worst shock of all, lying about 9 meters away from her with a similar wound in his chest to the captain's. After this scene of carnage that was in front of her registered, the smell hit her nose, a scent so putrid that she threw up immediately upon breathing in the smell. When all the vomit had left her stomach, she rushed into the house to check on her baby, simultaneously calling the authorities. Imagine her shock when she returned home to find out that not only was every adult on her estate dead, but her child was also missing! She collapsed in shock upon searching the house and not finding any trace of her child, she fell and slipped into a coma that was going to end with her death." the scientist looked up from his report when he felt a pair of eyes upon him and searched a sign pf human life around him, but too late Aurum had already slipped away.

* * *

Returning from his trip on memory lane, he steeled his resolve against the man in front of him and for the first time in his life felt an emotion other that pain, sadness, and despair. He felt rage, for the first time in his life he felt strong, unstoppable even. Dark flames balled up form his fist at his sides as he let the rage wash over him, with each and every passing second the flames grew another size until Aurum held a flaming ball of dark purple flames in each hand. This time it was the agent who gasped in pain and shock as the dark flames raced up his arm. He threw Aurum back into a wall on the other side of the training Arena, the force of the throw extinguishing the dark fire. Aurum stood slowly, for once absolutely unharmed by the force of the impact, the agent panicking called for reinforcements yelling "Attention, all forces Alpha has gone rouge, I repeat Alpha has gone rouge in training arena."

* * *

Soldiers streamed in like someone had unblocked a river by destroying a dam. They all stood in shock and awe as the watched the balls of flame in Aurum's hands grow into a wall of dark flames. Aurum stood there relishing in this power, this Aura washing over him as the flames grew and grew. He heard a command to shoot from the agent, who stood there cradling his burned arm. The soldiers shot, their bullets ineffectually hissing into molten metal which then itself disappeared from the sheer heat of the flames. Grinning Aurum said "My turn now, is it?", with that he pushed at the fire wall with his will and tendrils of black flame shot out from the wall spearing an entire company of about 250 men, all of whom were incinerated instantly leaving only ash in their place. He pushed again slightly harder this time, and the entire wall moved at once it grew horizontally and vertically and enveloped another two companies in flame leaving none alive. Although he had killed nearly 750 soldiers there were still about 1000 more who seized the opportunity and shot at Aurum with tranquilizer darts. All the darts were instantly incinerated except for a pitiful 5 darts. Three darts melted upon getting closer to Aurum, shot down by the heat of the dark flames coming form Aurum's body. The other two were more lucky they both landed themselves in his left arm and pumped him with a tranquilizer made specifically to put down powerful semblance users. He collapsed once the needles were done filling him with the serum.

* * *

 _ **Three years later:**_

Aurum Caleo was fed up with Project Alpha, they had pushed him around, tortured him, and killed his parents. For what reason? To use him, Aurum, as a weapon, a tool even to achieve their own personal goal. What goals? Money and power that was all that they wanted and he was tired of it. The only reason he had even stuck around all that time was to see if they had anything remotely useful to teach him. They didn't, but they did have his father's bow from when he was taken as child and a list of teachers to get to train him to become more dangerous.

* * *

His father's bow was kept in a locked room behind a secret door than he had found out about quite accidentally. He had been considering leaving for the third time when he over heard two scientists talking about what a great feat of engineering that the bow was. He was immediately interested and as he listened on he figured out where it was. From his room walk down the hallway past the experimentation room, take a left when you reach the training field, and at the staircase go up one floor and unlock the door, simple really. He followed these direction exactly and came to the room bye the stairs. Instead of just looking for a key, Aurum gathered his Aura within himself and pushed outward, covering the room with black fire. He saw the door after the false wall burned away and he extinguished the rest of his flames. He focused his Aura into his arm and slammed it into the steel door, it shattered from its door frame and crumbled. He stepped over the chuck of steel that had once been known as a door and grabbed the bow from its stand on the table. As he turned to leave another weapon caught his eye among the pile of junk weapons, it was a naginata, a sort of traditional Japanese spear with a curved blade at the end of the pole. This one had a such a dark blade that he immediately likened it to the void, however the black blade was gilded by a metal so bright that it appeared to almost be a gateway to the heavens. It's pole was of a similar design also featuring that dark metal surrounded by that bright steel. He grabbed the whole thing, sheath and all, and stored it on his back. He walked out of the weapons room and out into the hall as he slung the bow over his shoulders. He felt an eerie feeling emanating from above him,and looked up, Agent 4975 was dropping down katanas blade first.

* * *

Reacting quickly he tucked his head and kicked off the wall behind him launching himself in the opposite direction. The agent landed with a thud, as he looked up just in time to see a sneaker covered foot flying at his face. The agent winced in pain as he , for once, was slammed into the wall. The agent got up angrily from the crater he had formed in the wall, and snatched his blades up from the ground. He flew into a flurry of attack that had 11 years ago killed Aurum's father, he was furious, this ten-year old had permanently damaged his arm and he was going to pay for it with his life. However, one thing that Agent 4975 hadn't anticipated was for Aurum to have a seven foot long naginata with him. Now thankful that he had taken the pole arm with him he drew it out from it's sheath. He brandished it in front of him and took a traditional spear stance. He leaped into the air and brought it down on the agent's weakened guard, the blade held in his burned hand clattered onto the floor. Aurum took full advantage and continued his onslaught knocking the other blade out of the agent's hand onto the floor. As Aurum held his spear up above his head ready to decapitate the man, the agent suddenly pleaded with him "Please! At least let me fall with my weapons in my hand." Without saying anything he went to retrieve the man's weapons, and handed them to the agent. The agent breathed "Thank you." as Aurum once again prepared to kill his torturer. He cast his semblance on the naginata empowering it with dark flames as he brought it back and thrust the spear int other man's chest killing him from within painlessly. He had expected to feel something once his oppressor was dead but no such emotion emerged instead he felt the essence of the Grimm within him get stronger as he felt another thing connecting him to the world disappear. He grabbed the dual katanas from the ash on the ground and tied the sheathes of the blades on to his waist. He slipped out of the building and walked to the front gate upon spying a small gap in the guard he slipped out into the night.

* * *

 _ **The next day:**_

He had walked through the night and was ready to walk through the entire next day when he spotted a building on the distant horizon. Aurum's footsteps quickened as he drew nearer to the town. A howl pierced though the air, Aurum froze in place, that howl it felt familiar, it resonated with him. The feeling of emptiness in that howl resonated within him and he felt a part of him, the Grimm, howl back in response. His body began to move on it's own accord, his walk turning into a sprint, but he slowed when he neared the edge of the village. He saw a battlefield not the peaceful village he was expecting, as he walked deeper into the village he heard a voice calling to him.

* * *

"What the hell do you think your doing?" yelled one of the villagers defending against the Grimm.

* * *

Aurum looked up at him "What?"

* * *

The man waved his hand in front of Aurum's face "Hello? Grimm?" The man shook Aurum by his shoulders.

* * *

Aurum woke up from his stupor "Where am I?"

* * *

Before the villager could answer he was knocked off his feet by, from what Aurum remembered, was a Beowolf. The Grimm wolf roared, his saliva dripping down on the villager's face. Suddenly, the weight of the Grimm creature lifted from his torso and he looked up to see the kid he had confronted holding a bow and the Grimm that had been on him skewered with an arrow.

* * *

"Wait, what?" the man stuttered. There was no answer, what he saw was just the flash of a black spear disappear around a corner. The man lay there on the ground, confused.

* * *

To be honest, Aurum didn't know what had happened, he had suddenly felt an urge to protect people like that village who had been attacked. He drew his naginata and dashed around a corner, leaving behind a very confused villager. In front of him, he spotted a group of villagers fighting a single large Beowolf, he increased his running speed and threw the spear at the beast.

* * *

The villagers jumped out of the way as they fought a one-sided battle against the Beowolf, them being on the losing side. However, one villager didn't jump out of the way fast enough and got swatted into a wall. "Boom!" the wall cracked at the force of the impact. The villagers looked back at their opponent, the Beowolf, only to see a spear sticking out of its chest. They cheered, "Yes!" then they saw a blur of motion and the spear disappeared from the beast's side and appeared in the hands of a boy no more than ten.

* * *

"The spear hit home." he noted in his head as he ran toward the beast to get his spear back. He jumped into the air and pulled the spear out, landing in a crouch. He walked up to the injured villager and checked his pulse. "He's alive." Aurum said to the watching villagers. He sprinted toward another conflict.

* * *

They watched their savior as he ran off toward another battle, leaving another bunch of confused villagers.

* * *

He sheathed his naginata as he raced towards the next battle, drawing his bow and pulling back the string. An arrow appeared on the string as he pulled the string back "Cool!" he exclaimed. He leaped into the air to get a better view of the situation, there were five Grimm there, three Beowolves and two Ursula Minors. He aimed the arrow at the back of the Beowolf facing away from him and let go of the string. The arrow flew straight again and skewered the beast where Aurum suspected it's heart was. It exploded once it had entered the Beowolf's body tearing it apart much to the surprise of the villagers. More arrows shot out of beast's body as the arrow continued to shatter. The explosion and the resulting extra arrows killed off the rest of the Beowolves and one of the Ursuli. He drew Bloody Dawn out of their sheaths and braced himself for impact with the last Ursula. At the last moment he jumped straight up into the air and upon landing on the Ursula's skull plunged both blades into it's brain.

* * *

Aurum looked into the distance and saw four figures running toward the group of the villagers. Hunters, he assumed as he grabbed his weapons for the bear's skull saying as he walked away "If anyone asks what happened, I wasn't here." He looked around and saw the majority of the villagers looking from him to the Hunters, however he saw the man he saved first nod. He nodded back in response and in thanks he spotted a relatively intact building and trotted inside.

* * *

P.S: Thanks for being the first person to favorite and follow, Gh0st495!

I tried to capture the appropriate emotional stability for his respective ages but it was rather difficult to portray a seven and ten year old respectively properly.


	3. Prelude: Part 3

Author's Note: After this chapter there will be a time skip so as to progress in the main story. For those of you that wish to find out about Aurum's life during the time skip I will be posting a new story that will be a series of vaguely connected one shots detailing Aurum's journeys. More ion the new story in the next chapter, and thanks for reading!

* * *

 _ **After Aurum saves the village from the Grimm:**_

* * *

He trotted over to the building and walked through the door, he paused "I'll have a better view from a roof." He walked back out of the building and prepared himself for the task of getting onto the roof. He let out a sigh and crouched to the ground, steadying himself he pushed off the ground and leaped on the the roof. The group of hunters had reached the village gates during the time it had taken him to get onto the roof. He lowered himself closer to the ground in an effort to stay further out of view. The hunters passed through the gate and entered the village. The leader of the hunters, who was dressed in blue, looked around at the scene of carnage.

* * *

"Search the village for any remaining Grimm." ordered the leader. His team nodded and fanned out in different directions, he saw one dressed in yellow jump up onto a roof. He groaned in disappointment, they had to search the roofs didn't they? He closed his eyes and tuned his ears to the conversation unfolding beneath him. "What happened here?" asked the hunter.

* * *

The one who had met him at the gate replied "Grimm attack, we managed to take these out, the rest ran when you got near."

* * *

"Did they now?" questioned the man.

* * *

"They did."

* * *

"Then, what's that?" asked the leader gesturing at the slowly fading Grimm bear's skull. The two stab marks in the bear's skull were visible from where the two men stood. A hunter dressed in violet returned to her leader.

* * *

"Sir, there's a Beowolf with a spear wound in it's chest."

* * *

"Thank you. On standby."

* * *

"Yes, sir!" replied the hunter.

* * *

"You don't exactly have those kinds of weapons on you, do you?" asked the leader. The villager remained silent and the leader grinned. "So I was onto something then?" the man grinned, the villager remained silent again. "I'll ask you the question one more time. What happened here?" said the hunter in an intimidating fashion.

* * *

He heard a thud on the rooftop that he was on, he turned and face the yellow hunter.

* * *

The man's eyes widened in shock when he saw his opponent's face, it was that of a ten year old child. he asked "What are you doing here?" When Aurum didn't answer the man began to march toward the boy. Aurum turned again and jumped off the roof, falling into the alley and landing in a crouch. He got up, dusted himself off and walked into the main street. He approached the group of villagers and stepped into the crowd, it parted as he passed through it. He walked up to the villager that had tried to help him and whispered "Thanks for trying.", the man nodded in response. He moved to face the leader of the hunters. He grinned lopsidedly "Hello there, I'm Aurum and who may you?"

* * *

Stunned the man stuttered "Who are you?"

* * *

"I just told you." replied Aurum.

* * *

The man growled in frustration and quickly tried to change the topic "What are you doing here?"

* * *

"I was passing by."

* * *

"Where'd you get those weapons?"

* * *

"I found them."

* * *

"Found? More like stole, hand them over."

* * *

"Make me."

* * *

"Fine!"

* * *

The hunter dressed in violet cut in "Sir, he's ten years old!"

* * *

"I don't care!" he yelled as he drew his sword and leaped at Aurum slashing. Aurum ducked under his swing and hit him in the chest with a punch, he stumbled back cursing.

* * *

""Sir!" helplessly yelled the violet huntress again.

* * *

Her leader merely growled in anger and readied his blade again. Aurum felt a pulse of energy, a speed semblance, emanate from the air and he kicked off the ground instinctively. A blade flashed through the air where he had been moments earlier, this was getting serious. In midair he whipped his bow out and fired an arrow at the man, which slammed heavily into his blade knocking it out of his hands. He yelled "Team, prepare to attack!" Answering his call the other two members emerged from the village and charged Aurum, one pumped his shotgun preparing to shoot as yet another raised his blade prepared to strike down. He sighed in grudging acceptance for the coming battle and drew his twin blades from their sheathes. A crack sounded through the air as a hail of buckshot shot out from the gun, Aurum had leaped out of the way just in time as the bullets flew harmlessly past him and raised both of his swords in time to repel an attack from the second hunter, sending him stumbling. His gaze shot back to the other hunter as he morphed his shotgun into a bladed staff and turning Aurum lashed out with his twin blades, slamming them into the staff. His enemy dropped his weapon as the force of the attack reverberated the weapon so hard that he simply couldn't hold onto it anymore. Aurum slashed out with his blades and a set of twin gashes appeared on the man's chest as he fell to the ground in pain and shock.

* * *

Aurum tilted his head in curiosity as he watched the man writhe on the ground in pain, his Aura hadn't protected him, he noted. Turning, he heard a battle cry from behind him, the one he had knocked down had gotten up and the leader of the hunter group were both charging him. He faced the both of them and launched into his own attack, a cloud of dust kicked up behind him as he pushed off the ground for momentum.

* * *

"Arghh!" The leader screamed in pain as Aurum's swords flashed past his chest leaving a cut in the leader, he continued his attack and kicked the man with such force that he slammed into the village walls making a massive dent in one of them.

* * *

From a glance the man was out cold, observed Aurum wryly, "That would've knocked out most people." The hunter in violet finally seemed to have found the courage to speak and she called out, ordering them to retreat. The other members obeyed and picked themselves off the ground and eyed him warily as they circled around to their temporary commander.

* * *

"I need to thank to you." said the violet huntress. Aurum took a step back in confusion and gave her a look of bewilderment.

* * *

"Thank me? I just demolished your entire team!"

* * *

"Exactly. I hate to say this but they needed to be knocked down a couple of notches. So thank you." Aurum said nothing and just nodded to her as she turned and left the village with a unconscious teammate and one limping heavily.

* * *

He looked toward the villagers and shot them a look of apology bowing and said "I deeply apologize for the actions on behalf of myself and the other hunters, I will now take my leave." He turned and marched off i the direction from where he had entered the village.

* * *

"Wait!" It was the man who had confronted him when he had first entered the village.

* * *

"Yes?"

* * *

"Where are you going?" asked the man.

* * *

"I don't know."

* * *

"I have a suggestion. The villagers have come to the conclusion that if you would care to you could live in this village."

* * *

"Really?"

* * *

The man nodded "Yes."

* * *

Aurum sighed "Nowhere else to go, might as well then. Where will I be staying?"

* * *

"My house." They lapsed into an awkward silence at that point, getting closer to the man's house. Upon entering the doorway, the man started, "Dust! I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Johnathan." Who Aurum assumed to be the man's wife walked out of the kitchen, "This is my wife, Clara." Aurum waved to her. "Your room's the first door to the left when you get to the stairs." Aurum nodded and began walking upwards, Johnathan called him again "Oh, and by the way" yelled the man "Welcome the the village!"

* * *

 _ **One year later:**_

From that point on, Aurum experienced what being a normal child his age felt on a daily basis, for the very first time in his life he experienced love and someone who cared for him. He experienced a normal life, a life where he was not taught the most efficient way to end a life or steal. He felt happy in that village, but he should have known it wouldn't last. Aurum had begun to help out Johnathan in his blacksmith's shop and he had turned out to quite an exceptional smith forging customized weapons for hunters and earning a hefty sum of money. That changed one day though when a criminal named Roman Torchwick arrived on the scene, Aurum had been out hunting that day, so when Torchwick arrived no one was there to defend them. Sure, Aurum had taught his adopted father some moves but still he was nowhere near a match for the criminal.

* * *

Torchwick had sauntered into the weapon's shop with a small army of minions, he found Johnathan at his forge. One of the goons threatened to shoot him if he didn't give up all the weapons in his store. Johnathan turned quickly and kicked man in the groin forcing him to drop his weapon, and he snatched it off the floor. It was a fairly normal gun, but it would have to do, he jumped out from behind his cover and pulled the trigger five times. Five shots and five less henchmen were his results, a game of cat and mouse that continued for sometime, Johnathan managing to kill nearly all the henchmen until Torchwick got tired of waiting.

* * *

Johnathan looked towards the door in time to see Torchwick enter, he recognized the criminal, who wouldn't? Knowing he was doomed he tried for one last hurrah, it was a desperate attempt and a tactic that would have worked had Torchwick not had such good reflexes.

* * *

Aurum was emerging from the forest when he smelled smoke coming from the direction of what he now considered his home. His pace quickened as he approached village, when he got to the area where it should have been, there was nothing there except buildings that were shells of their former selves. He fell to his knees in shock as he took in his surroundings. his mind was numb with sorrow as he sat there for what seemed to him to be minutes when in fact hours had passed. He rose on stiffened muscles and sore legs, limping out of the village with his mind set on one thing, revenge.

* * *

 _ **After the time skip(refer to Author's Note:):**_

Aurum had initially been intrigued by tournaments at the age of 16, he had initially been making a living by working a series of odd jobs. He was tempted by the money on offer and soon registered with his last Caleo, the Flame.

* * *

Aged sixteen, he had heard a passing mention of a Mistral Regional Tournament from two men talking over coffee. Curious he researched it in his free time and what he found intrigued him, it was a annual tournament set in Mistral in which Hunters came from all over the world to compete in. The competition was set to take place in a month and Aurum was determined to compete. He had gathered up what he calculated to be the amount of money needed to get to and register in the tournament, two thousand Lien in total, five hundred for registration and the other fifteen hundred for various expenses.

* * *

Three and a half weeks later, he stepped of the airship with his wallet significantly lighter than it had been before, Aurum stepped of the plane and into the city of Wind Path. He asked around for the location of the tournament and soon received directions to the registration booth.

* * *

He approached the booth and asked to register for the tournament, the woman at the booth asked him for his name and after a moment of pondering he responded with "Caleo." The woman wrote it down and handed him a registration form, he sighed in annoyance, took it from her and walked to a beck and sat down.

* * *

A couple minutes later, he stood up and returned to the booth with the form and handed it to the woman and placed the money on the form. She read over it quickly and nodded once in satisfaction, she handed him another slip of paper. "That's your tournament info." she said. Aurum nodded in thanks and wandered off into the town to find a tavern to sleep in. After he got his room he looked at his slip, "32- finals, Match #35 of 64 Vs. Alex Bright", nodding in satisfaction he slipped into sleep.

* * *

Aurum walked into the arena without any weapons having left his at his hotel without any fear that someone could steal them as they were soulbound to him. Soulbinding had been taught to him by a warrior-monk whom he had met upon venturing into the mountains of deep northern Mistral, it involved using the weapon for such a long time that it was bound to your soul. The floodlights shone across the arena floor giving Aurum a good view of his opponent. The announcer began to speak, "Coming from the west side of the arena is Alex Bright, son of famous hunter, Matthew Bright!" The crowd cheered loudly, they expected Alex Bright to wipe the floor with him, but he would show them! The announcer continued "Coming from the east side is our enigma, nothing is known about him but his name, Caleo, the Flame!" No one could see his face, he had brought a black cloak from a merchant specifically for the event, but he had grown attached to it in a matter of two days. A smattering of polite applause sounded across the arena. The announcer yelled again "Begin!" Alex Bright shot forward with his blade in front of him prepared to strike him down with one slash.

* * *

"The boy's form is good." Aurum noted, he smiled and thought "But he still isn't as good as me, not by a long shot!" Alex continued forward and when he reached Aurum's position he slashed down.

* * *

The man known as the Flame suddenly seemed to warp out of existence, one moment he had been in front of him and the next he had been gone. He felt a fist slam into his back as he was in turn slammed into the ground, stunned he rose up from the ground. "You have a lot of Aura." commented the Flame.

* * *

"A speed semblance?" asked Alex.

* * *

"Nope."

* * *

"Then how did you do that?" Alex stuttered.

* * *

"That would be telling!" said the Flame. Alex charged again and was about to land his first hit when the Flame decked him again, he looked up from the ground and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the scoreboard.

* * *

His Aura was already at thirty percent and with only two hits, that meant the Flame had taken out thirty five percent chunk of his Aura with each hit! His chances of winning were absolutely zero, he slowly raised his hands in surrender and yelled "You win! I forfeit !" Aurum nodded accepting his victory and walked out of the arena, behind him he could hear the crowd cheering. He walked back to the tavern and entered his room, stripped off his cloak and laid down on the bed again.

* * *

His trend of easy victories was astonishing to anyone who had looked at the loser's profiles, one was the son of a famous hunter, three were considered prodigies, and the last had never lost a battle in his life before. His last opponent was to be fought in the finals against a person known as Pyrrha Nikos, however for some reason he felt inclined not to fight her. For some strange reason he had called her to a park and offered her a deal, that deal was that he didn't fight her but in exchange she would give him half her prize money of ten thousand Lien. Now one had only to look at the terms of the deal to tell that it was a bad idea, but she agreed. After all, she had seen him fight and she was sure that if it came to it he would demolish her, she could put up a good fight but in the end she would lose anyways. This way, she got to keep up appearances as the warrior guided by fate and he would remain anonymous.

* * *

Sure enough, he had cancelled the fight telling the organizers that he suddenly had something important to do, this awarded Pyrrha first place and the prize of ten thousand Lien. Aurum returned to Vale with about extra four thousand Lien in his pocket. He heard rumors when he returned to Vale about his alter-ego, Caleo, but when someone asked him for his opinion about the Flame he would always smirk and respond with "Who knows?"

* * *

Caleo appeared again at the Mistral Regional tournament and this time swept the entire competition. Strangely enough though, Pyrrha Nikos wasn't present at the tournament this time.

* * *

P.S: To all who are either pissed or confused about the Pyrrha scene in the story I put it in with a reason. I believe that if she ever met someone with far greater skill than her own she would if offered the chance do exactly what I wrote Pyrrha doing in this story. There is a reason I wrote it this way so please at least be civil if you must critize. Also, the main story will commence in the next chapter!


End file.
